Poultry and Livestock: Comet or Red Star chicken?

More questions and pics at the bottom...should have started a new thread!

What are the physical differences between Red Stars and Comets? I have 2 chicks that are feathering out red and white and after looking at as many photos as I can find, I still don't know what it is.
TY
Deb

Thanks for the info. I had always heard of Comets from relatives many years ago but did not know they were crosses. They will go in the freezer later this summer! I want to keep around 8 chickens through the winter and I currently have 29 which includes quite a few breeds. I have to select the ones I like best!
So far, I want a Barred Rock rooster, I must keep my Cochin, I love my 2 little Silver Sebrights and will count them as 1 :)), two Cornish, and a Orpington. A couple, I am not sure what they are...I know there are supposed to be: Marans, Jersey Giants, Minorcas, Araucanas and have forgotten the rest. One I remember is supposed to be a birchen but have now read that is a color pattern.

The Cornish are unlikely to thrive in the long run as they are bred for quick maturity and bulk. My Minorcas are not very friendly but would be rather meager meals, and they lay very reliably. I find my Orpingtons and Jersey Giants to be among the calmest and friendliest and they lay huge eggs! However they do eat a lot. (Just trying to fog the issue!)

No, I appreciate that info. I thought that the Cornish Rock crosses were the ones that lived usually less than a year and not the Cornish hen. Is it called a Cornish Game Hen?

I should also add the other breeds I remembered after going out to let the chicks into their pen and clean their cage.
There is also supposed to be Brahma, Australorp, and Delaware chickens. I know which are the Speckled Sussex and the Golden Laced Wyandottes.

I will try to put some pics up.
1-5:
1. Red Star?
2. ???
3. another??? quarrelsome little guy!! cute as a bug!!
4. The one in front has fluff on both sides of its head so maybe these are Ameraucanas or Araucanas?
5. My Cochin...but what color? I don't think dark enough for black and too dark for blue. The photo is the color.

Next:...sorry there are so many!!!
11. Silver Sebright Bantam
12. Speckled Sussex
13. Not a White Leghorn...I skipped those as I don't like them. So it is a ???
14. Pretty! What is it...another???
15.????

The last ones:
16. Another gold-laced wyandotte?
17.???? also feathered legs but darker and bluer down than #7.
18. Not Wyandotte...gold isn't as rich and not in the same pattern...so???
19.This The same as #8...a pic from the front
20. This one looks rather barred rock except its longest flight feathers ( I can't remember what they are called specifically! Will have to look that up!) are all black and just a small bit of what looks like barring is at the top of the wings.

Cool - a chicken ID game! How was it that you ended up with so many semi-unidentified chicks?

I find chicks at this stage of development/feathering really hard to recognize. And as you said no one has pictures. The color of the legs may help you: for example Australorps will be black, Ameraucanas sort of green.
The ones with facial tufts can be Ameraucanas - or Aracaunas if they have no tails. I think you have the Wyandottes and Orpington right. What color are the white and light colored chick's legs?

I've started to answer this several times, only to look at the pics closely and lose the posts *G*. So, I'll ask if the unknown "white" seems to have cheek puffs, as Ameracaunas come in every color. #4 seems to be one as well. Porkpal has a great point with the leg coloring. I have lots of mixes, and sometimes that's the only clue to parentage. I

p.s. I love my little Sebrights (the hen is setting now) but the rooster is mean and attacks much larger rooaters, and my feet. It's a good thing he's very cute, and too small to do damage.

None of the chicks were supposed to be crosses as I could recognize the breed names. I had just always thought a comet was a breed as I had heard it for so many years and relatives had them years ago.
When I bought the chicks, I bought 1 or 2 of each kind for the variety as I wanted to determine which breed I liked the best. I didn't want Hampshires, Rhode Island Reds, or Leghorns so I didn't get any of those. When I bought them, they were just in down and couldn't tell them apart and now they have feathers, I can't tell which is which...they are all mixed together in the same pen.
The only ones that look like they have tufts on the side of their faces is #4. I just didn't know they came in that color! Also, I thought they were the same thing and the names are so close he could have said either one, but I thought he said Araucanas.
#8 looks messy! But it always looks that way! The ones I have 2 of, I can tell which 2 go together. When I bought 2 They were mostly straight run and I was hoping at least one would be a hen. All roosters will go in the freezer except a Barred Rock and the a Sebright (if I have one of those turn out to be a rooster!)
There are 4 that have leg feathers. My Cochin and 2 others which are 2 of the same kind. The 4th has white with black wings and most of the rest looks like it will be white. Looking at the breeds I can remember having, maybe it is the Brahmas? or the Delaware?
What color are Delaware chicks? I thought maybe the white ones were Delawares, maybe hens. The pictures of the Delawares seem to show those hens as having very little black and that mostly around the neck where my white chicks don't have feathers yet.
I will look at the legs today and note the color each has. I didn't see and really black but some were dark and yellow mixed. Some have light yellow legs but most have legs of what I would call the "regular old yellow".

Yeah, I'd like to see more people check in :)
Your Comets (or Red Stars) are considered hybrids, rather than mixes. They are uniform as a group, but won't breed true.

If you post a list of what you ordered including color (and how many of each), that will help. Where are they from?

As to the Ameracaunas, many places sell "Easter Eggers" rather than full Ameracaunas. True araucanas are unlikely (they're somewhat tough to breed, and usually expensive), but you can recognize the good ones by their lack of tails and ear tufts (not the same as muffs) Don't know how identifiable they are at that age..

My Australorps always had at least some black on legs and beaks, but I suppose that can vary by strain.

estrail1rider, can you elaborate on what you ordered, by color? I do think #14 will be black, but you have other breeds that could be black, depending on what you ordered. Jersey Giants and Marans come in black,

After seeing more pics of Australorp chicks around the same age as mine, I am almost positive that is it. most of the white you see in the photo is still down.
I didn't order chicks. I went to the Purina store back where I grew up and knew they had good chicks and got most of them there. It was more like...in this cage there are...and my reply was..."I want two of each". The man caught them...I caught a few...and put them in a large box. I ended up with 16 from there and another 10 from a place near our old house. When I got home to our new house, I found some more where a man orders chicks. It was rather like before...I told him how many and he put them in. So I have no guide. I have my memory of what I wanted but not of individual colors. There are no other choices for blacks.
DH told me he has my larger run finished for them. I ordered (yes ordered this time) 5 Dark Cornish pullets, 5 straight run Buckeyes, and 5 straight run Salmon Faverolles yesterday am. They are to be shipped after the 3rd. I should be home by then. I can already see several of my chicks that are to become "freezer bait" (as I read somewhere!) By fall, I will have to do much narrowing down to the # I expect to overwinter.
My daughter called yesterday am to tell me she was in labor. I threw my already packed things in the car and drove3 the 7 hrs and made it!! My newest g-daughter was born at 10:12 last night. I am now at her house baby-sitting for her other little girl. Her hubby spent the night at the hospital (I got back to her house at 2 am) and he hasn't come home yet.
Well...I only got 1 ticket on the way!!!! I wasn't even trying to hurry. I was following the car in front of me and a MD state trooper walked out into oncoming traffic (4 lanes divided) and motioned for 3 of us to pull over. DH told me we hould ran over him!! LOL!!! Nah...we respect the police and the jobs they have to do...but not to me!! LOL!!!